The second is of a college student struggling with insomnia, who begins to feel a sense of hopelessness, loneliness and despair as the sleepless nights stack up.

Both scenarios can ultimately prove fatal. Suicide and self-harm are very common at nighttime. In fact, some research reports a three-fold higher risk of suicide between midnight and 6:00 am compared to any other time of day.

A study in 2020 concluded that nocturnal wakefulness is a suicide risk factor, "possibly through misalignment of circadian rhythms."

Illicit or dangerous substances are also taken more by people at night.

Some of these behaviors could be explained by sleep debt or the cover that darkness offers, but there are probably nighttime neurological changes at play, too.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/network-physiology/articles/10...

Footnotes:

1. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/network-physiology/articles/10...

Part 2

Throat Cancer Is Becoming an Epidemic, And Oral Sex May Be Why

Over the past two decades, there has been a rapid increase in throat cancer in the west, to the extent that some have called it an epidemic. This has been due to a large rise in a specific type of throat cancer called oropharyngeal cancer (the area of the tonsils and back of the throat).

The main cause of this cancer is the human papillomavirus (HPV), which are also the main cause of cancer of the cervix. Oropharyngeal cancer has now become more common than cervical cancer in the US and the UK.

HPV is sexually transmitted. For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex. Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex.

https://theconversation.com/oral-sex-is-now-the-leading-risk-factor...

**

New AI tool predicts protein-protein interaction mutations in hundreds of diseases

Scientists have designed a publicly-available software and web database to break down barriers to identifying key protein-protein interactions to treat with medication.

The computational tool is called PIONEER (Protein-protein InteractiOn iNtErfacE pRediction). Researchers demonstrated PIONEER's utility by identifying potential drug targets for dozens of cancers and other complex diseases in a recently published Nature Biotechnology article.

Genomic research is key in drug discovery, but it is not always enough on its own. When it comes to making medications based on genomic data, the average time between discovering a disease-causing gene and entering clinical trials is 10–15 years.

In theory, making new medicines based on genetic data is straightforward: mutated genes make mutated proteins. Scientists try to create molecules that stop these proteins from disrupting critical biological processes by blocking them from interacting with healthy proteins, but in reality, that is much easier said than done.

One protein in our body can interact with hundreds of other proteins in many different ways. Those proteins can then interact with hundreds more, forming a complex network of protein-protein interactions called the interactome.

This becomes even more complicated when disease-causing DNA mutations are introduced into the mix. Some genes can be mutated in many ways to cause the same disease, meaning one condition can be associated with many interactomes arising from just one differently mutated protein.

Drug developers are left with tens of thousands of potential disease-causing interactions to pick from—and that's only after they generate the list based on the affected protein's physical structures.

Some scientists,  especially the drug developers, are taking the help of  artificial intelligence (AI) tools  to  identify the most promising protein-protein interactions more easily and speedily.

Their resulting database allows researchers to navigate the interactome for more than 10,500 diseases, from alopecia to von Willebrand Disease.

Researchers who identified a disease-associated mutation can input it into PIONEER to receive a ranked list of protein-protein interactions that contribute to the disease and can potentially be treated with a drug. Scientists can search for a disease by name to receive a list of potential disease-causing protein interactions that they can then go on to research. PIONEER is designed to help biomedical researchers who specialize in almost any disease across categories including autoimmune, cancer, cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological and pulmonary.

Part 1

The team validated their database's predictions in the lab, where they made almost 3,000 mutations on over 1,000 proteins and tested their impact on almost 7,000 protein-protein interaction pairs. Preliminary research based on these findings is already underway to develop and test treatments for lung and endometrial cancers. The team also demonstrated that their model's protein-protein interaction mutations can predict:

Survival rates and prognoses for various cancer types, including sarcoma, a rare but potentially deadly cancer.
Anti-cancer drug responses in large pharmacogenomics databases.
The researchers also experimentally validated that protein-protein interaction mutations between the proteins NRF2 and KEAP1 can predict tumor growth in lung cancer, offering a novel target for targeted cancer therapeutic development.

A structurally informed human protein–protein interactome reveals proteome-wide perturbations caused by disease mutations, Nature Biotechnology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41587-024-02428-4

Part 2

Unique mRNA delivery method could fix faulty genes before birth

A new study shows that a biomedical tool can successfully deliver genetic material to edit faulty genes in developing fetal brain cells. The technology, tested in mice, might have the potential to stop the progression of genetic-based neurodevelopmental conditions, such as Angelman syndrome and Rett syndrome, before birth.

The implications of this tool for treating neurodevelopmental conditions are profound. We can now potentially correct genetic anomalies at a foundational level during critical periods of brain development, say the researchers associated with the study.

 The research team hopes to develop this technology into treatments for genetic conditions that can be diagnosed during prenatal testing. The treatments can be given in the womb to avoid more damage as cells develop and mature.

Proteins have a crucial role in the way our bodies function. They are assembled in cells based on instructions from messenger RNA (mRNA). In certain genetic conditions, the genes express (produce) more or fewer proteins than the body needs. In such cases, the body might get dysregulated and need to silence an overactive gene or supplement the low protein levels.

Proteins have large and complex structures, which makes them hard to deliver. Their delivery remains a huge challenge and a dream for treating diseases.

Instead of delivering proteins, scientists found a way to deliver mRNA to cells that will be translated to functional proteins within the cells. This delivery method uses a unique lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulation to carry mRNA. The objective is to introduce (transfect) mRNA genetic material into the cells. The mRNA would then translate instructions to build proteins.
Delivery of mRNA using LNP is already transforming disease treatments. It has applications in vaccine development, gene editing and protein replacement therapy. Recently, mRNA delivery has become more popular with its use in Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

 Kewa Gao et al, Widespread Gene Editing in the Brain via In Utero Delivery of mRNA Using Acid-Degradable Lipid Nanoparticles, ACS Nano (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c05169 Sheng Zhao et al, Acid-degradable lipid nanoparticles enhance the delivery of mRNA, Nature Nanotechnology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-024-01765-4

The smart 3D printer that can upgrade your home instantly

If someone wants to add 3D-printed elements to a room—a footrest beneath a desk, for instance—the project gets more difficult. A space must be measured. The objects must then get scaled, printed elsewhere and fixed in the right spot. Handheld 3D printers exist, but they lack accuracy and come with a learning curve.

Researchers now created Mobiprint, a mobile 3D printer that can automatically measure a room and print objects onto its floor. The team's graphic interface lets users design objects for a space that the robot has mapped out. The prototype, which the team built on a modified consumer vacuum robot, can add accessibility features, home customizations or artistic flourishes to a space.

The team presented its work Tuesday, Oct. 15, at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology

https://programs.sigchi.org/uist/2024/program/content/170934

How microbes feed on iron

Pipelines, sprinklers, and other infrastructure in oxygen-free environments are vulnerable to microbially induced corrosion (MIC)—a process where microorganisms degrade iron-based structures, potentially leading to costly damages or even collapses.

Unlike rust, which is caused by a chemical reaction with oxygen, MIC occurs in oxygen-free environments. The microbes responsible thrive on the iron itself, producing a destructive reaction that damages the material. This kind of corrosion costs industries billions of dollars annually, particularly in sectors such as oil and gas. Identifying and preventing the microbial activity behind the corrosion is therefore of importance.

Now microbiologists have uncovered new details about how one microbial strain of the species Methanococcus maripaludis corrodes iron in an extremely efficient way. The study is  published in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes.

The study refutes the long-standing belief that these microbes release enzymes into the environment to corrode iron and have them produce nutrients for the microbe's growth. Instead, the researchers show that the microbes cling directly to the iron surface, using sticky enzymes on their cell walls to extract what they need without wasting energy on releasing enzymes that may not reach the iron surface.

Once attached to the iron surface, the microbe initiates corrosion, quickly developing a black film on the material's surface.

The microbes will quickly create pits under this black film, and within a few months, significant damage will occur. 

According to the researchers, microbial adaptation like this is an example of how microbes can learn to thrive in human-made environments. In this case, Methanococcus maripaludis, has learned to survive on and efficiently get energy from iron structures.

Such microbial adaptation poses not only a financial burden but also an environmental one. These microbes are methanogenic, meaning they produce methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, so it does cause some concern that microbes adapting to human-made, built environments produce methane more effectively. These new adaptations may spur increases in methane emissions.

Satoshi Kawaichi et al, Adaptation of a methanogen to Fe⁰ corrosion via direct contact, npj Biofilms and Microbiomes (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41522-024-00574-w

Methane-producing microbes also thrive on a variety of mineral particles that are being released to the natural environment by climate change and other anthropogenic activities. Such particles come from industry, agriculture, forest fires, river runoffs, melting glaciers, etc., and they may promote the activity of certain methane-producing microbes.

Plastic chemical phthalate causes DNA breakage and chromosome defects in sex cells, new study finds

A new study conducted on roundworms finds that a common plastic ingredient causes breaks in DNA strands, resulting in egg cells with the wrong number of chromosomes.

Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) is a chemical that makes plastic more flexible and durable, and is found in many consumer products, including food packaging, personal care products and children's toys. Previous studies have shown that BBP interferes with the body's hormones and affects human reproduction and development. In the new study, researchers tested a range of doses of BBP on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and looked for abnormal changes in egg cells. They saw that at levels similar to those detected in humans, BBP interferes with how newly copied chromosomes are distributed into the sex cells. Specifically, BBP causes oxidative stress and breaks in the DNA strands, which lead to cell death and egg cells with the wrong number of chromosomes.
Based on these findings, the researchers propose that BBP exposure alters gene expression in ways that cause significant damage to the DNA, ultimately leading to lower quality egg cells with abnormal chromosomes. The study also showed that C. elegans metabolizes BBP in the same way as mammals, and is impacted at similar BBP levels that occur in humans, suggesting that C. elegans is an effective model for studying the impacts on people. Overall, the study underscores the toxic nature of this very common plastic ingredient and the damage it causes to animal reproduction.

 Henderson AL, Karthikraj R, Berdan EL, Sui SH, Kannan K, Colaiácovo MP (2024) Exposure to benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) leads to increased double-strand break formation and germline dysfunction in Caenorhabditis elegans, PLoS Genetics (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011434

Study shows that LLMs could maliciously be used to poison biomedical knowledge graphs

In recent years, medical researchers have devised various new techniques that can help them to organize and analyze large amounts of research data, uncovering links between different variables (e.g., diseases, drugs, proteins, etc.). One of these methods entails building so-called biomedical knowledge graphs (KGs), which are structured representations of biomedical datasets.

Researchers  recently showed that large language models (LLMs), machine learning techniques which are now widely used to generate and alter written texts, could be used by malicious users to poison biomedical KGs. Their paper, published in Nature Machine Intelligence, shows that LLMs could be used to generate fabricated scientific papers that could in turn produce unreliable KGs and adversely impact medical research.

Junwei Yang et al, Poisoning medical knowledge using large language models, Nature Machine Intelligence (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s42256-024-00899-3.

**

The preparation makes the poison: How muscarine in mushrooms becomes toxic

Mushrooms exist in a breathtaking variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Especially in autumn, mushroom hunters go into the forests to find the tastiest of them, prepare them in multiple ways and eat them with relish. However, it is well known that there are also poisonous mushrooms among them and it is life-saving to distinguish between them. But are these mushrooms really poisonous?

Researchers have investigated this question and recently published the results of a study about muscarine in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

This toxin is found in various mushrooms, the best known of which is the fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria), which also gave the toxin its name. However, considerably higher concentrations of muscarine are found in fiber cap mushrooms and fool's funnel mushrooms.

Researchers have now been able to show that muscarine is not only present in mushrooms as such, but it can also be stored as a harmless precursor and only be released when mushrooms got injured.

Muscarine was discovered 150 years ago as the first fungal toxin. The current study was able to prove that it is stored, for example, in the fool's funnel mushroom Clitocybe rivulosa as 4phosphomuscarin, which is less toxic.

There are indications that other substances are also present because pure muscarine apparently has a different effect than a mushroom containing muscarine.

The fool's funnel mushroom is also known as the false champignon and can easily be confused with the real champignon. Only when the mushroom is damaged by cutting, cooking or digestion, an enzyme releases the poisonous muscarine from this precursor molecule.

In other mushrooms however, muscarine is already present in its active form. It is not uncommon for organisms to show defense and protective reactions when they are damaged, for example by being eaten by animals.

The mixture of free active and "hidden" inactive muscarine, which only becomes active poison when eaten, increases the danger of certain types of mushrooms such as the funnel mushrooms. These results could help doctors and toxicologists to better assess the actual danger of certain types of fungi and treat poisoning more efficiently.

Muscarine interferes with the transmission of signals by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and leads to permanent excitation. The consequences are increased salivation and lacrimation, sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, circulatory collapse and even fatal cardiac paralysis.

It is irrelevant whether the poison has already been ingested in free form or as a precursor that is only activated in the body. The correct identification of edible mushrooms is therefore still an important prerequisite for an enjoyable and carefree mushroom meal.

Sebastian Dörner et al, The Fatal Mushroom Neurotoxin Muscarine is Released from a Harmless Phosphorylated Precursor upon Cellular Injury, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2024). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202417220

Ancient viral DNA activates blood cell production during pregnancy and after significant bleeding, researchers discover

Ancient viral remnants in the human genome are activated during pregnancy and after significant bleeding in order to increase blood cell production, an important step toward defining the purpose of "junk DNA" in humans, according to research published in Science.

These scientists set out to discover how hematopoietic, or blood-forming, stem cells—which typically divide infrequently—are activated during pregnancy and after blood loss. 

When they compared activated genes in stem cells from pregnant versus nonpregnant mice, they found retrotransposons had switched on in stem cells from pregnant mice.
Retrotransposons are ancient viral gene sequences now permanently part of our genome and sometimes called "junk DNA" because they don't encode proteins that contribute to cellular function. They use an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, just like the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), to replicate themselves.

Humans have evolved mechanisms to keep retrotransposons turned off most of the time, because retrotransposons have the ability to damage DNA when they replicate and reinsert into other parts of the genome.

There are hundreds of these retrotransposon sequences in our genome. Why not permanently inactivate them, like some species have done? They must have some adaptive value for us, the scientists thought.
They used reverse transcriptase inhibiting drugs, commonly used to suppress HIV replication in patients, to inhibit the replication of retrotransposons in mice. These drugs did not alter blood cell production in normal mice but blocked the increase in blood-forming stem cells and red blood cell production during pregnancy, leading to anemia.
As researchers further explored mechanisms activating blood cell production, they found retrotransposons were being detected by the immune sensors, cGAS and STING. These sensors induce interferon production after viral infection or replication of retrotransposons.

They found the retrotransposons turned on just enough interferon to activate blood cell production.
What these scientists discovered in mice is also true in humans, they found.
Earlier they also found that estrogen contributes to blood-forming stem cell activation during pregnancy.

Julia Phan et al, Retrotransposons are co-opted to activate hematopoietic stem cells and erythropoiesis, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.ado6836

Part2

Dysfunction of neurons in the amygdala may be behind negative perceptions of the environment

Between 15% and 20% of people experience a depressive episode—"a state of deep, lasting distress"—at some point in their lives. But 30% of patients with depression are resistant to conventional medical treatment with antidepressants. To develop novel therapies, we need to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying depression, especially those that induce a "negativity bias.

One of the characteristics of depression is a tendency to perceive sensory stimuli and everyday situations in an excessively negative way. Depression causes patients to perceive the world and all sensory stimuli in an excessively negative way—pleasant stimuli become less attractive and unpleasant stimuli become more undesirable—and this contributes to the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms.

But the mechanisms underpinning this "negativity bias," which can fuel the development of depressive symptoms, had previously remained largely unknown until now.

To shed light on the question, scientists explored the amygdala and observed how it functions during depressive episodes.

Their findings suggest that a depressive state alters certain specific neural circuits, leading to a reduction in the activity of neurons involved in pleasant perceptions of positive stimuli and an overactivation of those responsible for the perception of negative stimuli.

We now know that the amygdala is not only involved in our emotional response to environmental stimuli, fostering attraction or repulsion, but that it also plays a role in depression.

These results, which could pave the way for the development of new drugs for people resistant to conventional therapy, were published in the journal Translational Psychiatry in September 2024.

The scientists revealed that in a depressive state, the neurons preferentially involved in encoding positive stimuli are less active than normal, while the neurons preferentially involved in encoding negative stimuli are much more recruited. In other words, depression seems to induce a dysfunction of the amygdala circuits involved in encoding environmental stimuli, and this in turn further encourages the negative valence bias typical of depression.

These data are extremely valuable for the development of novel treatments for people with depression and also for those with bipolar disorder, who experience disproportionately lengthy and severe mood swings.

Mathilde Bigot et al, Disrupted basolateral amygdala circuits supports negative valence bias in depressive states, Translational Psychiatry (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-03085-6

What animal societies can teach us about aging

Red deer may become less sociable as they grow old to reduce the risk of picking up diseases, while older house sparrows seem to have fewer social interactions as their peers die off, according to new research showing that humans are not the only animals to change their social behaviour as they age.

A collection of 16 studies, including six from the University of Leeds, have been published recently as part of a special issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, investigating aging and society across the natural world.

One study into red deer shows that as older female deer become less and less social with age, they are cutting down on competition and reducing their risk of parasite infection. The study used data from a long-running project tracking a wild herd on the Scottish island of Rum.

 Like people who firmly believe in social contacts, while previous research has often considered the process of becoming less social with age, known as "social aging," as potentially negative, these new meta studies show changing habits could in fact bring benefits.

These kinds of effects might be expected across societies, where individuals might avoid social interactions as they become more vulnerable to the costs of infection. Animal populations are a great way of considering the fundamental rules of how aging may shape societies in Nature.

Like older humans who cut down their social interactions to avoid infections like COVID-19—"shielding" during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021—the less sociable older does are less likely to pick up certain parasite infections. "Wild animals provide a good model system for considering the costs and benefits of changing social behavior with age, and in this case may provide an example of aging individuals reducing their social connections to avoid disease and other forms of suffering. 

The special edition is an international collaboration and looks at how individuals of different species age, how this shapes their social interactions, and what this means for their societies.

Even the common garden bird, the house sparrow, changes its social behaviour as it ages, according to another paper in the collection.

This study is one of the first to suggest that birds, like mammals, also reduce the size of their social network as they age. Specifically, the number of friendships, and how central a bird is to the wider social network, declined with age.

The results may be driven by existing friends of the same cohort groups dying as they age, and because it takes more effort for older birds to make friendships with fewer same-age individuals available to bond with. Conversely, the benefits of social connections may be lower than they are for younger individuals, who may come to rely on those connections for things like reproduction or information later in life.

The research collection shows that the social effects of aging are a very general biological phenomenon, extending even to fruit flies.

So nature tells us "cut social interactions" for your own good after a certain age. 

Josh A. Firth et al, Understanding age and society using natural populations, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0469

Scientists discover a promising way to create new superheavy elements

What is the heaviest element in the universe? Are there infinitely many elements? Where and how could superheavy elements be created naturally?

The heaviest abundant element known to exist is uranium, with 92 protons (the atomic number "Z"). But scientists have succeeded in synthesizing super heavy elements  up to oganesson, with a Z of 118. Immediately before it are livermorium, with 116 protons and tennessine, which has 117.

All have short half-lives—the amount of time for half of an assembly of the element's atoms to decay—usually less than a second and some as short as a microsecond. Creating and detecting such elements is not easy and requires powerful particle accelerators and elaborate measurements.

But the typical way of producing high-Z elements is reaching its limit. In response, a group of scientists from the United States and Europe have come up with a new method to produce superheavy elements beyond the dominant existing technique. Their work, done at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, was published in Physical Review Letters.

Part 1

The island of stability is a region where superheavy elements and their isotopes—nuclei with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons—may have much longer half-lives than the elements near it. It's been expected to occur for isotopes near Z=112.

While there have been several techniques to discover superheavy elements and create their isotopes, one of the most fruitful has been to bombard targets from the actinide series of elements with a beam of calcium atoms, specifically an isotope of calcium, 48-calcium (48Ca), that has 20 protons and 28 (48 minus 20) neutrons. The actinide elements have proton numbers from 89 to 103, and 48Ca is special because it has a "magic number" of both protons and neutrons, meaning their numbers completely fill the available energy shells in the nucleus.
Proton and/or neutron numbers being magic means the nucleus is extremely stable; for example, 48Ca has a half-life of about 60 billion billion (6 x 1019) years, far larger than the age of the universe. (By contrast, 49Ca, with just one more neutron, decays by half in about nine minutes.)

These reactions are called "hot-fusion" reactions. Another technique saw beams of isotopes from 50-titanium to 70-zinc accelerated onto targets of lead or bismuth, called "cold-fusion" reactions. Superheavy elements up to oganesson (Z=118) were discovered with these reactions.

But the time needed to produce new superheavy elements, quantified via the cross section of the reaction which measures the probability they occur, was taking longer and longer, sometimes weeks of running time. Being so close to the predicted island of stability, scientists need techniques to go further than oganesson. Targets of einsteinium or fermium, themselves superheavy, cannot be sufficiently produced to make a suitable target.
Part 2

Theoretical models of the nucleus have successfully predicted the production rates of superheavy elements below oganesson using actinide targets and beams of isotopes heavier than 48-calcium. These models also agree that to produce elements with Z=119 and Z=120, beams of 50-titanium would work best, having the highest cross sections.

But not all necessary parameters have been pinned down by theorists, such as the necessary energy of the beams, and some of the masses needed for the models haven't been measured by experimentalists. The exact numbers are important because the production rates of the superheavy elements could otherwise vary enormously.

Several experimental efforts to produce atoms with proton numbers from 119 to 122 have already been attempted. All have been unsatisfactory, and the limits they determined for the cross sections have not allowed different theoretical nuclear models to be constrained. Gates and his team investigated the production of isotopes of livermorium (Z=116) by beaming 50-titanium onto targets of 244-Pu (plutonium).
Part 3

Using the 88-Inch Cyclotron accelerator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the team produced a beam that averaged 6 trillion titanium ions per second that exited the cyclotron. These impacted the plutonium target, which had a circular area of 12.2 cm, over a 22-day period. Making a slew of measurements, they determined that 290-livermorium had been produced via two different nuclear decay chains.

"This is the first reported production of a SHE [superheavy element] near the predicted island of stability with a beam other than 48-calcium," they concluded. The reaction cross section, or probability of interaction, did decrease, as was expected with heavier beam isotopes, but "success of this measurement validates that discoveries of new SHE are indeed within experimental reach."
The discovery represents the first time a collision of non-magic nuclei has shown the potential to create other superheavy atoms and isotopes (both), hopefully paving the way for future discoveries. About 110 isotopes of superheavy elements are known to exist, but another 50 are expected to be out there, waiting to be uncovered by new techniques such as this.

J. M. Gates et al, Toward the Discovery of New Elements: Production of Livermorium ( Z=116 ) with Ti50, Physical Review Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.172502

Part 4

Scientists transport protons in truck, paving way for antimatter delivery

Antimatter might sound like something out of science fiction, but at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator (AD), scientists produce and trap antiprotons every day. The BASE experiment can even contain them for more than a year—an impressive feat considering that antimatter and matter annihilate upon contact.

The CERN AD hall is the only place in the world where scientists are able to store and study antiprotons. But this is something that scientists working on the BASE experiment hope to change one day with their subproject BASE-STEP: an apparatus designed to store and transport antimatter.

Most recently, the team of scientists and engineers took an important step towards this goal by transporting a cloud of 70 protons in a truck across CERN's main site.

If you can do it with protons, it will also work with antiprotons. The only difference is that you need a much better vacuum chamber for the antiprotons.

This is the first time that loose particles have been transported in a reusable trap that scientists can then open in a new location and then transfer the contents into another experiment. The end goal is to create an antiproton-delivery service from CERN to experiments located at other laboratories.

Part 1

Antimatter is a naturally occurring class of particles that is almost identical to ordinary matter except that the charges and magnetic properties are reversed.
According to the laws of physics, the Big Bang should have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter. These equal-but-opposite particles would have quickly annihilated each other, leaving a simmering but empty universe. Physicists suspect that there are hidden differences that can explain why matter survived and antimatter all but disappeared.
The BASE experiment aims to answer this question by precisely measuring the properties of antiprotons, such as their intrinsic magnetic moment, and then comparing these measurements with those taken with protons. However, the precision the experiment can achieve is limited by its location.

The accelerator equipment in the AD hall generates magnetic field fluctuations that limit how far we can push our precision measurements.
If scientists want to get an even deeper understanding of the fundamental properties of antiprotons, they need to move out.
This is where BASE-STEP comes in. The goal is to trap antiprotons and then transfer them to a facility where scientists can study them with a greater precision. To be able to do this, they need a device that is small enough to be loaded onto a truck and can resist the bumps and vibrations that are inevitable during ground transport.
The current apparatus—which includes a superconducting magnet, cryogenic cooling, power reserves, and a vacuum chamber that traps the particles using magnetic and electric fields—weighs 1,000 kilograms and needs two cranes to be lifted out of the experimental hall and onto the truck. Even though it weighs a ton, BASE-STEP is much more compact than any existing system used to study antimatter. For example, it has a footprint that is five times smaller than the original BASE experiment, as it must be narrow enough to fit through ordinary laboratory doors.
Part 2

During the rehearsal, the scientists used trapped protons as a stand-in for antiprotons. Protons are a key ingredient of every atom, the simplest of which is hydrogen (one proton and one electron.) But storing protons as loose particles and then moving them onto a truck is a challenge because any tiny disturbance will draw the unbonded protons back into an atomic nucleus.

When it's transported by road, our trap system is exposed to acceleration and vibrations, and laboratory experiments are usually not designed for this. Scientists needed to build a trap system that is robust enough to withstand these forces, and they have now put this to a real test for the first time.
the biggest potential hurdle isn't currently the bumpiness of the road but traffic jams.

If the transport takes too long, they will run out of helium at some point.
Liquid helium keeps the trap's superconducting magnet at a temperature below 8.2 Kelvin: its maximum operating temperature. If the drive takes too long, the magnetic field will be lost and the trapped particles will be released and vanish as soon as they touch ordinary matter.
Eventually, they want to be able to transport antimatter to our dedicated precision laboratories at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, which will allow us to study antimatter with at least 100-fold improved precision
In the longer term, they want to transport it to any laboratory in Europe. This means that they need to have a power generator on the truck. They are currently investigating this possibility.
After this successful test, which included ample monitoring and data-taking, the team plans to refine its procedure with the goal of transporting antimatter next year.

"This is a totally new technology that will open the door for new possibilities of study, not only with antiprotons but also with other exotic particles, such as ultra-highly-charged ions.
Another experiment, PUMA, is preparing a transportable trap. Next year, it plans to transport antiprotons 600 meters from the ADH hall to CERN's ISOLDE facility in order to use them to study the properties and structure of exotic atomic nuclei.
Source: CERN
Part 3

Almost a third of asthma cases are attributable to long-term exposure to fine particular matter, global study suggests

Drawing on evidence involving about 25 million people worldwide, an international research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry demonstrates that long-term exposure to ambient PM_2.5 significantly increases the risk of asthma, affecting both children and adults. The researchers find that approximately 30% of new asthma cases worldwide were linked to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) exposure, highlighting the dramatic threat air pollution poses to public health.

Asthma is currently an incurable disease that severely impairs quality of life, with recurring symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. As of today, about 4% of the world's population suffers from asthma, with more than 30 million new cases arising annually.

Evidence suggests that long-term exposure to air pollution of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is an important risk factor for developing asthma.

Researchers have conducted a comprehensive global meta-analysis  and found this is correct. 

The research team determined the data from 68 epidemiological studies from 2019 conducted across 22 countries, including those in North America, Western Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and Africa. They conclude that there is now sufficient evidence with high confidence level to support an association between long-term exposure to ambient PM_2.5 and asthma.

Ruijing Ni et al, Long-term exposure to PM2.5 has significant adverse effects on childhood and adult asthma: A global meta-analysis and health impact assessment, One Earth (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2024.09.022

Is it true that trees pollute the air?

(and Why Your Coworker's Scientific Citations Don't Mean They're Right)

Bird wings inspire new approach to flight safety

Taking inspiration from bird feathers,  engineers have found that adding rows of flaps to a remote-controlled aircraft's wings improves flight performance and helps prevent stalling, a condition that can jeopardize a plane's ability to stay aloft.

These flaps can both help the plane avoid stall and make it easier to regain control when stall does occur.

The flaps mimic a group of feathers, called covert feathers, that deploy when birds perform certain aerial maneuvers, such as landing or flying in a gust. Biologists have observed when and how these feathers deploy, but no studies have quantified the aerodynamic role of covert feathers during bird flight.

Engineering studies have investigated covert-inspired flaps for improving engineered wing performance, but have mostly neglected that birds have multiple rows of covert feathers. The present study has advanced the technology by demonstrating how sets of flaps work together and exploring the complex physics that governs the interaction.

This new  the technique is an easy and cost-effective way to drastically improve flight performance without additional power requirements.

The covert flaps deploy or flip up in response to changes in airflow, requiring no external control mechanisms. They offer an inexpensive and lightweight method to increase flight performance without complex machinery. They're essentially just flexible flaps that, when designed and placed properly, can greatly improve a plane's performance and stability.

Part 1

A wing's teardrop form forces air to flow quickly over its top, creating a low-pressure area that pulls the plane up. At the same time, air pushes against the bottom of the wing, adding upward pressure. Designers call the combination of this pull and push "lift." Changes in flight conditions or a drop in an aircraft's speed can result in stall, rapidly reducing lift.

The study uncovered the physics by which the flaps improved lift and identified two ways that the flaps control air moving around the wing. One of these control mechanisms had not been previously identified.

The researchers uncovered the new mechanism, called shear layer interaction, when they were testing the effect of a single flap near the front of the wing. They found that the other mechanism is only effective when the flap is at the back of the wing.

The researchers tested configurations with a single flap and with multiple flaps ranging from two rows to five rows. They found that the five-row configuration improved lift by 45%, reduced drag by 30% and enhanced the overall wing stability.

The discovery of this new mechanism unlocked a secret behind why birds have these feathers near the front of the wings and how we can use these flaps for aircraft. Especially because we found that the more flaps you add to the front of the wing, the higher the performance benefit.

This is the power of bioinspired design!

Wissa, Aimy, Distributed feather-inspired flow control mitigates stall and expands flight envelope, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2409268121. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2409268121

Part 2

Cat Ba langurs' unique ability to drink salt water

A new study shows the remarkable adaptability of the critically endangered Cat Ba langurs. Despite low genetic diversity, the langurs have retained key genetic traits that help them survive in their isolated environment on Cat Ba Island in Vietnam. One of these remarkable adaptations is the ability to drink salt water.

The study is dedicated to the genetic challenges faced by the fewer than 100 remaining individuals of this primate species. Due to the dramatic decline of its population, the species suffers from genetic impoverishment, high inbreeding and a potentially increased susceptibility to disease. Nevertheless, analysis of their genetic information shows that genetic diversity has been maintained in functionally important areas of their genetic information. This enables the Cat Ba langurs (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) to continue to cope adequately with changing environmental conditions.

Their adaptability makes the animals unique. Drinking salt water is an outstanding example of this.

This extraordinary ability is a direct consequence of their isolated island home, where there are only limited freshwater sources. The researchers show that changes in certain genes have probably increased tolerance to salt water. These genetic adaptations enable langurs to cope with the high sodium content of salt water and thus contribute to their survival in this unique environment.

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

 Liye Zhang et al, Genomic adaptation to small population size and saltwater consumption in the critically endangered Cat Ba langur, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52811-7

GPS systems often mislead drivers

We know this for sure!

Drivers blindly follow GPS instructions instead of paying attention to signs. Blindly following GPS navigation can lead to difficult situations on the road. A research team has analyzed such incidents and is in favour of delegating more personal responsibility to drivers.

As useful as GPS-controlled navigation systems are in everyday life, they often lead people astray and trigger outrage. Sometimes they even guide cars and lorries onto very challenging roads, unnecessarily endangering everyone involved.

(We know how the GPS took vehicles into water bodies, strange areas and put people into dangerous situations)

This is a technology that is used by more than a billion people worldwide. That's why it's important to understand the social implications.

Since there is no publicly available documentation, the researchers used a different method: they systematically combed the LexisNexis news database for newspaper articles and internet posts about incidents in which navigation systems caused chaos and problems. To avoid complications due to translations, they only looked at English texts, which unsurprisingly reported mostly on events in English-speaking countries. But as the examples above illustrate, such incidents also occur in other areas around the world. Yeah, in India for sure. 

In societies where navigation apps are increasingly used, we can expect to see more of these types of situations in the future.

Part 1

In total, the researchers identified ninety (only 90? Come on, we ourselves 're involved in atleast 10, these researchers don't know about the incidents in India, then) incidents between 2010 and 2023. The team then conducted a systematic content analysis of the articles to categorize the problems mentioned: half of the traffic disruptions reported were traffic jams, while a third were caused by through traffic of heavy vehicles, especially on roads that were not designed for such volumes of traffic.

Reports of traffic rule violations and disturbances to residents were less common. The latter were caused, for example, by long lines of cars preventing drivers from being able to back out of their private parking spaces.

The safety hazards mentioned in the newspaper reports concerned accidents in a third of cases, but also damage to road surfaces and pollution.

Through studies such as this one, the team not only wants to categorize the problems perceived by society, but also develop solutions. The evaluation showed that in most cases, the aim is only to make adjustments at the local level.

The research team also has another suggestion that does not completely delegate responsibility to technology: the system could provide users with additional information about the suggested routes—and then let them choose for themselves.
It would be nice if people could voluntarily choose to be more considerate by providing the full information, they say.

Eve Schade et al, Traffic jam by GPS: A systematic analysis of the negative social externalities of large-scale navigation technologies, PLOS ONE (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308260

Part 2

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Scientists uncover key mechanism in pathogen defense, paving way for new antimicrobial strategies

Researchers have made a significant breakthrough in understanding how certain pathogens defend themselves against the host's immune system.

This  new work focuses on the role of a group of enzymes known as zinc-dependent macrodomains (Zn-Macros) in reversing ADP-ribosylation, a vital cellular process.

This discovery could lead to innovative treatments to combat antimicrobial resistance, a growing global health threat. The work is published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

ADP-ribosylation is a reversible modification of proteins and DNA that regulates important cellular responses to stress. While this signaling mechanism is well-studied in higher eukaryotes, where it regulates responses to DNA damage, reactive oxygen species and infection, the importance of its role in microorganisms is also becoming increasingly evident, which includes the regulation of the host immune response, microbial immune evasion and adaptation to specific hosts.

The research team used a combination of phylogenetic, biochemical, and structural approaches to investigate the function of Zn-Macros. These enzymes are found in some pathogenic microbes and are essential for removing ADP-ribosyl modifications, thereby helping the pathogens survive oxidative stress.

The study revealed that the catalytic activity of Zn-Macros is strictly dependent on a zinc ion within the active site of these enzymes. The researchers also identified structural features that contribute to substrate selectivity within different types of Zn-Macro enzymes, which may be exploited for the development of future therapies.

Part 1

The findings have significant implications for the fight against bacterial and fungal infections that pose an increasing risk to human health, a problem that is exacerbated by the development of antimicrobial resistance and the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains. The World Health Organization has published lists of priority pathogens that pose the greatest risk, emphasizing the need for new antimicrobial strategies.

Addressing antimicrobial resistance will require a multifaceted strategy, including the discovery and characterization of new antimicrobial targets, along with assessing their potential for therapeutic use in innovative (co-)treatment approaches.

The authors of the study suggest that targeting the Zn-Macro pathway could reduce the virulence of major human pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. These pathogens rely on the crosstalk between lipoic acid metabolism and ADP-ribosylation signaling for their defense mechanisms. Disrupting this pathway could enhance the effectiveness of existing treatments and provide new therapeutic options.
The study's findings represent a significant step forward in the fight against antimicrobial resistance and highlight the potential of Zn-Macros as therapeutic targets.

Antonio Ariza et al, Evolutionary and molecular basis of ADP-ribosylation reversal by zinc-dependent macrodomains, Journal of Biological Chemistry (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107770

Part 2

Scientists create a molecular switch that can control cell division on demand outside of a living system

A living cell is a bustling metropolis, with countless molecules and proteins navigating crowded spaces in every direction. Cell division is a grand event which completely transforms the landscape. The cell starts behaving like the host of an international competition, reconfiguring entire streets, relocating buildings and rerouting its transportation systems.

For decades, researchers have been captivated by the cell's ability to organize such a dramatic transformation. Central to the process is the microtubule cytoskeleton, a network of fibers which provides structural support and facilitates movement within the cell, ensuring that chromosomes are correctly segregated. Errors in cell division can lead to a wide array of diseases and disorders, including cancer or genetic disorders.

Yet despite its critical importance, the exact mechanisms governing how cells reorganize their insides during cell division have not been studied well. How does a cell know when and how to rearrange its internal scaffolding? What are the molecular signals governing these changes? Who are the key players conducting it all? According to new research, some of the changes come down to a surprisingly simple and elegant system—the flip of a molecular switch. The findings are published in Nature Communications .
At the heart of the discovery is the protein PRC1. During cell division, PRC1 plays a key role in organizing cell division. It crosslinks microtubules, helping to form a structure in the crucial region where microtubules overlap and chromosomes are separated.

Part 1

But PRC1 doesn't act alone. Its activity is tightly controlled to ensure that microtubules assemble at the right time and place. The protein is controlled through a process called phosphorylation, where enzymes add small chemical tags to specific regions on its surface. These molecular tags can turn PRC1's activity up or down.
Scientists now discovered that manipulating the phosphorylation state of PRC1 can induce large-scale transitions between different states of cytoskeleton organization that are needed for cell division. The changes take only a few minutes to complete.
The researchers made this discovery by developing a new laboratory system where they can precisely control and even reverse the transitions of the cytoskeletal structures associated with different stages of cell division outside of a living system. The new technology can help researchers study the fundamental mechanisms governing cell division with greater control and detail than previously possible, and in real time.
The new system can eventually shed light on potential therapeutic strategies for conditions where cell division goes wrong, like cancer. However, for the scientists who discovered the process, the implications of the study are how it inspires a sense of wonder at the sophistication of the natural world.
Cells are incredibly small, yet within them exists a highly organized and very complex system that operates with great precision.

Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53500-1

Part 2

Less than 7 mm in length, this Atlantic Rainforest flea toad is the second-smallest vertebrate described in the world

Flea toads, as some species in the genus Brachycephalus are known, are less than 1 cm long in adulthood. Their size is far smaller than a fingernail.

The name of a new species, B. dacnis, pays tribute to Project Dacnis, a conservation, research and education NGO that maintains private areas of the Atlantic Rainforest, including the one where the animal was found, in Ubatuba, on the coast of Brazil's São Paulo state.

There are small toads with all the characteristics of large toads except for their size. This genus is different. During its evolution, it underwent what  biologists call miniaturization, which involves loss, reduction and/or fusion of bones, as well as fewer digits and absence of other parts of its anatomy.

The researchers' attention was drawn to the newly described species, B. dacnis, by its vocalizations. It has the same morphology as another species, B. hermogenesi. Both have yellowish-brown skin, live in leaf litter, do not have tadpoles but emerge from their eggs as fully formed miniatures of the adult morphology, and occur in the same region. Their calls are different, however.

DNA sequencing confirmed that B. dacnis was indeed a new species.

In their description of the new species, besides the requisite anatomical traits, the researchers included information about the skeleton and internal organs, as well as molecular data and details of its vocalizations. Descriptions of new species must include these details in order to distinguish them from others more precisely, given that many are cryptic and cannot be differentiated by external anatomy only.

 Luís Felipe Toledo et al, Among the world's smallest vertebrates: a new miniaturized flea-toad (Brachycephalidae) from the Atlantic rainforest, PeerJ (2024). DOI: 10.7717/peerj.18265

Smell loss is linked to more than 100 diseases in new study

Researchers reveal a powerful link between olfactory loss and inflammation in a staggering 139 medical conditions. 

This research  emphasizes a little-known but potentially life-altering connection: the role our sense of smell plays in maintaining our physical and mental health.

Olfactory dysfunction, often dismissed as a minor inconvenience, may actually be an early sign of various neurological and bodily diseases, as indicated by this research.

The data are particularly interesting because scientists had previously found that olfactory enrichment can improve the memory of older adults by 226%. Scientists  now know that pleasant scents can decrease inflammation, potentially pointing to the mechanism by which such scents can improve brain health.

This finding, they think, could hold key implications for mitigating symptoms and possibly even reducing the onset of certain diseases through therapeutic olfactory stimulation.

Part 1

The study delves into the methodical tracking of 139 medical conditions associated with both olfactory loss and heightened inflammation, uncovering insights into a shared pathway linking these factors. Olfactory loss, which often precedes conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, may serve as an early indicator of disease onset, allowing for more proactive therapeutic approaches.
It was difficult to track down the studies for so many medical conditions, say the scientists, reflecting on the complexity of linking olfactory loss to such a wide array of disorders. The challenge, they emphasize, underscores the importance of these findings in framing olfactory health as integral to overall well-being.
By showing how olfactory enrichment can mitigate inflammation, this research has laid a foundation for future studies aiming to explore the therapeutic use of scent to address a broader range of medical conditions.
The researchers are now working on a device to deliver olfactory therapy, which could hold promise as a novel, non-invasive way to improve health outcomes.

Michael Leon et al, Inflammation and olfactory loss are associated with at least 139 medical conditions, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2024.1455418

Part 2

Researchers identify key metabolites impacting lifespan in flies and humans

Discoveries that impact lifespan and healthspan in fruit flies are usually tested in mice before being considered potentially relevant in humans, a process that is expensive and time-intensive. A pioneering approach taken by researchers leapfrogs over that standard methodology.

Utilizing cutting-edge machine learning and systems biology, researchers have analyzed and correlated huge data sets from flies and humans to identify key metabolites that impact lifespan in both species. Results published in Nature Communications suggest that one of the metabolites, threonine, may hold promise as a potential therapeutic for aging interventions.

Threonine has been shown to protect against diabetes in mice. The essential amino acid plays an important role in collagen and elastin production and is also involved in blood clotting, fat metabolism and immune function.

In flies, threonine extended lifespan in a strain-and-sex-specific manner. Individuals with higher levels of threonine-related metabolites had longer, healthier lives.

Scientists are not saying that threonine is going to work in all conditions. This  research shows it works in subsets of both flies and people. However, this is not a magic bullet. 

The results also include findings that were not so positive for both species. Orotate, which is relatively understudied and has been linked with fat metabolism, was negatively associated with aging. In flies, orotate counteracted the positive impact of dietary restriction across every strain of the animals. In humans, orotate was linked to a shorter lifespan.

Tyler A. U. Hilsabeck et al, Systems biology approaches identify metabolic signatures of dietary lifespan and healthspan across species, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52909-y

What is transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS)?

Constraining the body of a hydra can cause it to grow two heads

Hydra are small, invertebrate, predatory animals that live in water. They're tubular, radially symmetric and up to 10 mm long, with a head (mostly a mouth), a single, adhesive foot, and tentacles.

In a study published in the journal PRX Life, researchers investigated how technical forces and feedbacks on a Hydra might affect its body plan.

They choose Hydra because they are notable for being able to regenerate, as most of their body cells are stem cells, which can continually divide and then differentiate into any of the body's cell types. In fact, Hydra are so good at it that do not appear to age and may be immortal, constantly regenerating whatever cells they need, even from an initial small piece of tissue.

All animals share a common body plan because all come from a common ancestor, including bilateral symmetry, segmented bodies and a digestive system. Over billions of years, evolution has modified their shapes to create the enormous variety of body morphologies observed in the animal kingdom. But this biological pattern formation is still not well understood.

Morphogenesis is the biological process that causes a cell, tissue, or organism to develop its shape. It involves the differentiation of cells, tissues, and organs, leading to the creation of order in the developing organism.

Morphogenesis is a fundamental aspect of developmental biology, alongside tissue growth control and cellular differentiation. But what if an organism is constrained in some way due to external forces?

In this study, a team of researchers confined Hydra into a narrow cylindrical channel. The channel constrained the morphology of the animal—the form and structure of an organism, and particular features of its structure.

Part 1

In the group's earlier work, they focused on the role of multi-cellular arrays of actomyosin fibers in guiding and stabilizing the body axis of the Hydra as they regenerated. (Actomyosin is a complex formed by two interacting proteins, actin and myosin. It plays crucial roles in muscle contraction and cell movement, with the myosin motor protein pulling the actin filaments into place.)

Hydra have parallel actomyosin fibers that contract, and previous work by the same group found that the body axis of Hydra regenerated when tissue segments were aligned with the inherited body axis of the parent.

They decided to investigate how the orientation field of the actomyosin fibers, which contained locally disordered regions called topological defects, is relevant to the body plan of Hydra morphogenesis, which was still unknown.

They developed a methodology to confine regenerating Hydra in an anisotropic manner—on an axis other than the Hydra's parallel fibers. This required a method of confinement that did not damage the organism's tissue or regenerating capacity over the course of several days. They also needed high resolution live imaging over the entire time of regeneration.

The confinement was in a glass capillary tube, equipped with small cylindrical channels on its inner surface, 120 to 300 microns wide, made of a stiff gel between the spherical tissue samples and the glass wall.

When the Hydra tissue was introduced into the resulting channel, while a softer gel was pushed into the channel cavities on the edges to create a width available to the Hydra, care was taken not to tear the tissue during the soft gel insertion.

This reduced the movement of the tissue along the cylinder axis, with about 20 to 50 cells along the circumference of the cavity (a typical cell size is 20 microns), while allowing the spherical tissue to unfold and regenerate into an elongated, ellipsoidal shape.

After some time, the regenerating tissue fills the channel available to it, then forms a mouth and tentacles as the body column becomes narrower than the channel, and the animal separates from the channel walls.

In this way, an angle develops between the constrained body axis and the inherited body axis. The relative angle between the inherited body axis and the channel axis depends on the orientation in which the Hydra tissue spheroid enters the channel, with its inherited axis parallel or perpendicular to the channel's axis.
Part 2

The constraint imposed on the tissue geometry by the channel walls affects the patterns of mechanical stress experienced by the Hydra tissue, from both the hydrostatic pressure gradient across the tube and the frequent muscle contractions that take place.

The group found there was a strong preference of the body axes and the actomyosin fiber to come into alignment with the "easy-axis" of the channel, with one head and one foot along the channel axis. But different body plans developed if the initial tissue was perpendicular to the channel axis.

They wrote, "samples that are initially oriented with their primary fiber alignment perpendicular to the channel direction often regenerate into multiaxial morphologies."

But if the animals that were confined in length, perpendicular to the channel axis, they consisted mostly of animals with, amazingly, two heads, and often more than one foot. These multiple morphological features are not arranged along a single axis, but rather at junctions between axes with particular topological defects in the fiber organization.

Yonit Maroudas-Sacks et al, Confinement Modulates Axial Patterning in Regenerating Hydra, PRX Life (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PRXLife.2.043007

Part 3

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Animal alcohol consumption more common than thought

Anecdotes abound of wildlife behaving "drunk" after eating fermented fruits, but despite this, nonhuman consumption of ethanol has been assumed to be rare and accidental. Ecologists challenge this assumption in a review published October 30 in Trends in Ecology & Evolution. They argue that since ethanol is naturally present in nearly every ecosystem, it is likely consumed on a regular basis by most fruit- and nectar-eating animals.

It is much more abundant in the natural world than we previously thought, and most animals that eat sugary fruits are going to be exposed to some level of ethanol.

Ethanol first became abundant around 100 million years ago, when flowering plants began producing sugary nectar and fruits that yeast could ferment. Now, it's present naturally in nearly every ecosystem, though concentrations are higher, and production occurs year-round in lower-latitude and humid tropical environments compared to temperate regions.

Most of the time, naturally fermented fruits only reach 1–2% alcohol by volume (ABV), but concentrations as high as 10.2% ABV have been found in over-ripe palm fruit in Panama.

Animals already harbored genes that could degrade ethanol before yeasts began producing it, but there is evidence that evolution fine-tuned this ability for mammals and birds that consume fruit and nectar. In particular, primates and tree-shrews have adapted to efficiently metabolize ethanol.

From an ecological perspective, it is not advantageous to be inebriated as you're climbing around in the trees or surrounded by predators at night—that's a recipe for not having your genes passed on.

It's the opposite of humans who want to get intoxicated but don't really want the calories—from the non-human perspective, the animals want the calories but not the inebriation.

Part 1

It's unclear whether animals intentionally consume ethanol for ethanol's sake, and more research is needed to understand its impact on animal physiology and evolution. However, the researchers say that ethanol consumption could carry several benefits for wild animals.
First and foremost, it's a source of calories, and the odorous compounds produced during fermentation could guide animals to food sources, though the researchers say it's unlikely that animals can detect ethanol itself.

Ethanol could also have medicinal benefits: fruit flies intentionally lay their eggs in substances containing ethanol, which protects their eggs from parasites, and fruit fly larvae increase their ethanol intake when they become parasitized by wasps.

On the cognitive side, ideas have been put forward that ethanol can trigger the endorphin and dopamine system, which leads to feelings of relaxation that could have benefits in terms of sociality.

 The evolutionary ecology of ethanol, Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.09.005

Part 2

Comb jellies can reverse age

A new article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals the unprecedented ability for reverse development in a ctenophore, also called comb jelly. The findings suggest that life cycle plasticity in animals might be more common than previously thought.

Animal life cycles typically follow a familiar pattern of decline in countless variations: they are born, grow, reproduce and die, giving way to the next generation. Only a few species are able to deviate from this general principle, the best-known example being the "immortal jellyfish" Turritopsis dohrnii, which can revert from an adult medusa back to a polyp. This elusive group of animals with flexible life cycles now includes the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi.

The work challenges our understanding of early animal development and body plans, opening new avenues for the study of life cycle plasticity and rejuvenation. The fact that we have found a new species that uses this peculiar 'time-travel machine' raises fascinating questions about how spread this capacity is across the animal tree of life.

Joan J. Soto-Angel et al, Reverse development in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2411499121

Researchers show nanoplastics can reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics

In a recent study, an international research team has investigated how nanoplastic particles deposited in the body affect the effectiveness of antibiotics.

The study showed that the plastic particles not only impair the effect of the drugs, but could also promote the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These results were recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The focus was on the broad-spectrum antibiotic tetracycline, which is used to treat many bacterial infections, such as those of the respiratory tract, skin or intestines.

When it came to plastics, the choice fell on polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS), which are ubiquitous components of packaging materials, as well as nylon 6,6 (N66), which is contained in many textiles such as clothing, carpets, sofa covers and curtains. Nanoplastics are smaller than 0.001millimeters and are considered particularly harmful to humans and the environment due to their small size.

Using complex computer models, the team was able to prove that the nanoplastic particles can bind tetracycline and thus impair the effectiveness of the antibiotic. The binding was particularly strong with nylon.

The micro- and nanoplastic load is around five times higher there than outdoors. Nylon is one of the reasons for this: it is released from textiles and enters the body via respiration, for example.

As the study results show, the binding of tetracycline to nanoplastic particles can reduce the biological activity of the antibiotic. At the same time, binding to nanoplastics could lead to the antibiotic being transported to unintended sites in the body, causing it to lose its targeted effect and possibly cause other undesirable effects.

This increase in concentration could lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Plastics such as nylon 6,6, but also polystyrene, which bind more strongly to tetracycline, could therefore increase the risk of resistance.

The study shows that exposure to nanoplastics is not only a direct health risk, but can also indirectly influence the treatment of diseases. If nanoplastics reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics, the dosage poses a massive problem.

Leonard Dick et al, The adsorption of drugs on nanoplastics has severe biological impact, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-75785-4

Some wildfire suppressants contain heavy metals and could contaminate the environment

In fire-prone areas, water isn't the only thing used to quell blazes. Wildland firefighters also apply chemical or synthetic suppressants. Researchers reporting in Environmental Science & Technology Letters explored whether these suppressants could be a source of elevated metal levels sometimes found in waterways after wildfires are extinguished.

Several products they investigated contained high levels of at least one metal, including chromium and cadmium, and could contribute to post-fire increases in the environment.

Wildfires are associated with the release of toxic heavy metals to the environment, but until now, it was assumed that these metals came from natural sources like soil. We now know that fire retardants may contribute to these metal releases.

Wildfire suppressant products, which are intended to inhibit fire activity before and after water evaporates, include fire retardants, water enhancers and foams. As wildfires have become more frequent and severe, larger volumes of water along with chemical and synthetic suppressants—sprayed from the ground and dropped from planes—have been required to extinguish them. Although manufacturers identify most of the active ingredients in suppressants, some components are proprietary. In addition, previous researchers have observed increased concentrations of potentially toxic metals in soil and streams after wildfires.

These results show that fire suppression activities could contribute to elevated metal levels in the environment but that more work is needed to determine potential risks to human and environmental health.

Marella H. Schammel et al, Metals in Wildfire Suppressants, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00727

Electric fans fail to lower core body temperature of seniors during heat waves, study finds

A team of physiologists at the University of Ottawa's Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit reports that use of an electric fan during periods of high temperatures by older people does not lower core body temperatures. In their study, published in JAMA, the group conducted experiments with elderly volunteers using fans in high-temperature conditions.

As several heat waves have struck parts of North America, high numbers of older people have died of heat stroke. This was notable due to the location of many of the deaths—the Pacific Northwest, where extremely high temperatures are rare. Because of the rarity of such high temperatures, many people in the region do not have air conditioners. Prior research has shown that older people are at higher risk of dying of heat stroke due to their lessened ability to reduce their body temperature. One notable problem is less efficient sweating.

During heat waves, officials in the affected regions suggested that older people without access to air conditioning use electric fans to stay cool. In this new effort, the research team tested the approach to see if the advice was valid.

The researchers recruited 18 people ranging in age from 65 to 72, who sat in a climate-controlled temperature chamber with an electric fan. The temperature and the fan settings were both controlled by the research team. All the volunteers were monitored during the experiments to ensure they did not become overheated.

The researchers kept the temperature inside the chamber at a steady 36°C, with a humidity level of 45%. The fans had three spin settings: off, slow and fast. All three settings were tested with the volunteers.

The researchers found that neither the slow nor the fast setting had any measurable impact on core body temperature—it was the same as if the fan was off. They also found that the slow setting did little to make the volunteers feel cooler, but the fast setting did, which, they suggest, was dangerous. Because they felt somewhat cool, the volunteers did not realize that their core body temperatures might be rising to dangerous levels.

 Fergus K. O'Connor et al, Effect of Electric Fans on Body Core Temperature in Older Adults Exposed to Extreme Indoor Heat, JAMA (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jama.2024.19457

Once again, tuberculosis becomes world's top infectious disease killer

In the highest tally ever recorded for tuberculosis cases, the World Health Organization report that over 8 million people worldwide were diagnosed with the lung disease last year.

Of that number, 1.25 million people died of TB, the new report found, meaning that it is once again the leading cause of deaths from infectious disease after COVID-19 displaced it briefly during the pandemic.

The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an agency news release. "WHO urges all countries to make good on the concrete commitments they have made to expand the use of those tools, and to end TB."

Some countries are hit harder by the disease than others. It continues to mostly affect people in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Western Pacific. India, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Pakistan account for more than half of the world's cases, the WHO noted.

According to the report, 55% of people who developed TB were men, while 33% were women and 12% were children and young adolescents. Many new TB cases were driven by five major risk factors: undernutrition, HIV infection, alcohol use disorders, smoking [especially among men] and diabetes.

Tackling these issues, along with other social determinants such as poverty, requires a coordinated approach, the WHO added.

https://www.who.int/news/item/29-10-2024-tuberculosis-resurges-as-t...

Bats have acoustic cognitive maps

Echolocating bats have been found to possess an acoustic cognitive map of their home range, enabling them to navigate over kilometer-scale distances using echolocation alone.

This finding, published in Science, was demonstrated by researchers.

Would you be able to instantly recognize your location and find your way home from any random point within a three-kilometer radius, in complete darkness, with only a flashlight to guide you?

Echolocating bats face a similar challenge, with a local and directed beam of sound—their echolocation—to guide their way. Bats have long been known for their use of echolocation to avoid obstacles and orient themselves.

The researchers have now shown that bats can identify their location even after being displaced and use echolocation to perform map-based navigation over long distances.

Remarkably in experiments, even with echolocation alone, 95% of the displaced bats  returned to their roosts within minutes, demonstrating that bats can conduct kilometer-scale navigation using only this highly directional, and relatively local, mode of sensing. However, it was also shown that, when available, bats improve their navigation using vision.

The model created revealed that bats tend to fly near environmental features with higher "echoic entropy"—areas that provide richer acoustic information.

Bats can use this acoustic information to distinguish between environmental features such as a tree and a road, and thus use them as acoustic landmarks.

After being displaced, these  bats first identify their new location and then fly home, using environmental features with distinctive acoustic cues as landmarks. This behaviour suggests they possess an acoustic mental map of their home range.

Aya Goldshtein, Acoustic cognitive map-based navigation in echolocating bats, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adn6269. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn6269

Part 2

It's time to rewrite the textbooks: 

Chemists just broke a 100-year-old rule

I love this!

Chemists have found a big problem with a fundamental rule of organic chemistry that has been around for 100 years—it's just not true. And they say, It's time to rewrite the textbooks.

Organic molecules, those made primarily of carbon, are characterized by having specific shapes and arrangements of atoms. Molecules known as olefins have double bonds, or alkenes, between two carbon atoms. The atoms, and those attached to them, ordinarily lie in the same 3D plane. Molecules that deviate from this geometry are uncommon.

The rule in question, known as Bredt's rule in textbooks, was reported in 1924. It states that molecules cannot have a carbon-carbon double bond at the ring junction of a bridged bicyclic molecule, also known as the "bridgehead" position. The double bond on these structures would have distorted, twisted geometrical shapes that deviate from the rigid geometry of alkenes taught in textbooks.

Olefins are useful in pharmaceutical research, but Bredt's rule has constrained the kind of synthetic molecules scientists can imagine making with them and prevented possible applications of their use in drug discovery.

A paper published by scientists in the journal Science has invalidated that idea. They show how to make several kinds of molecules that violate Bredt's rule, called anti-Bredt olefins, or ABOs, allowing chemists to find practical ways to make and use them in reactions.

People aren't exploring anti-Bredt olefins because they think they can't (very bad for science).

"We shouldn't have rules like this—or if we have them, they should only exist with the constant reminder that they're guidelines, not rules. It destroys creativity when we have rules that supposedly can't be overcome", say the scientists.

What this study shows is that contrary to one hundred years of conventional wisdom, chemists can make and use anti-Bredt olefins to make value-added products.

There's a big push in the pharmaceutical industry to develop chemical reactions that give three-dimensional structures like these because they can be used to discover new medicines.

Luca McDermott et al, A solution to the anti-Bredt olefin synthesis problem, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adq3519. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq3519